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Sunday, January 4, 2015

The Flash of Two Worlds

The cover to The Flash #123, Flash of Two Worlds, has been riffed on many times. I especially like this new fan-created piece based on the two Flash TV shows:

(click on the images for a closer look)

The Original:

The Reprinted Story, Available on Amazon:

The Riffs:

The Statue:

The
Story (from Wikipedia):

"Flash of Two Worlds!" is a landmark comic
book story that was published in The Flash #123 (Sept. 1961). It introduces
Earth-Two, and more generally the concept of the multiverse, to DC Comics. The
story was written by Gardner Fox under the editorial guidance of Julius
Schwartz (whose subsequent autobiography was titled Man of Two Worlds), and
illustrated by Carmine Infantino.

Plot Summary:

At a charity event organized by Iris West, the Flash
is using his super-speed to perform magic tricks to entertain the children
there as the magician has not come. During a rope climbing trick, the Flash
begins vibrating his molecules to appear invisible when he suddenly disappears
from the stage. He finds himself outside in a strange city, which he discovers
to be Keystone City, the home of the Golden Age Flash. Keystone City is located
on Earth-Two (not named as such in this story), an Earth in a parallel
universe. On Barry Allen's world, the Golden Age Flash is thought to be a
fictional comic book character. Barry looks up Jay Garrick in the phone book,
and introduces himself to the older speedster. On this Earth Jay had retired
years earlier, the year his comic book series was canceled on Earth-One, and
married his longtime girlfriend Joan Williams. Barry claims Gardner Fox's
thoughts must have been tuned in to the events of Earth-Two.

Meanwhile, three of Jay's archenemies, the Fiddler,
the Shade, and the Thinker, have joined forces to bring their old nemesis out
of retirement. Garrick describes three incredible crimes that were committed
recently. The Flashes split up, with Barry taking on the Thinker and Jay
against the Shade, but they are unable to defeat them. The two criminals meet
afterward and realize there are two Flashes; they hurry to warn the Fiddler of
this turn of events. The Flashes go after him, and save a man from a falling
steel girder. The Fiddler manages to stop the two Flashes with his musical
powers, and orders the two speedsters to commit robberies for him. Just as the
villainous trio are about to flee with their loot, the two Flashes capture
them. It turns out that they had put jewels in their ears to block the
Fiddler's mind-control music after he told them to put down the jewels they
were carrying and pick up larger jewels, and played along in order to fool the
criminals. Barry returns to his Earth after Jay announces he is coming out of
retirement.

Effects of the Story:

The success of "Flash of Two Worlds"
encouraged DC to revive many of its Golden Age characters. Eventually,
crossovers between the two Earths would become an annual feature in the Justice
League of America comics, beginning with issue #21, "Crisis on Earth-One!"
(August 1963), and culminating in the 12-issue mini-series, Crisis on Infinite
Earths.

In 2004, a near-mint copy of The Flash #123 sold in
a Heritage auction for $83,000.[4]

In Final Crisis #2 (August 2008), the location of
this story is revisited by Wally West (the Third Flash) and Jay Garrick (the
First Flash), but by the time of Final Crisis the Central City community center
has become an abandoned strip joint. Later in the same issue it becomes the
location for the return of Barry Allen (the second Flash), for the first time
since his apparent death in Crisis on Infinite Earths #8 (November 1985).

Other Media:

The comic was referenced in the September 28, 2009
episode of The Big Bang Theory, "The Jiminy Conjecture". It was the
comic lost by Sheldon in the cricket bet to Howard.

he concept of the Golden Age Flash being a comic
book character on the Silver Age's Earth, and his retirement on his Earth
coinciding with the cancellation of the series, is reused in the Justice League
two-parter "Legends". It features the titular team visiting a Golden
Age era reality with the "Justice Guild of America", a team similar
to the Justice Society who are said to have been characters in a comic book
series within the DC Animated Universe. John Stewart says the comic series was
canceled and the League later deduce that this occurred when the team was
killed in their timeline.

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About Me

A freelance writer, I'm the author of the Classic Home Video Games series, The 100 Greatest Console Video Games: 1977-1987, Encyclopedia of KISS, and other books. I've had articles published in numerous magazines and newspapers, including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Filmfax, Fangoria, AntiqueWeek, The Writer, Mystery Scene, and more.
Contact me at brettw105 AT sbcglobal.net.